Howdy-do to everyone interested in the splendors of Mother Nature! Professor Manuel here, I don't have much time to write because I have to catch a Russian whaling vessel that's leaving port in 30 minutes!  How could one pass up an opportunity of a lifetime like that! Unfortunately for my students, the whaler will be dropping me off on the Arctic ice floes after the whale hunt, so I'll be gone for approximately three months -- i.e. no classes this term.  But don't fret, next year I'll be back from the hunt, and will have probably have gotten most of the blood out of my knickers by then! On schedule for next year, I'll be teaching six courses on the intricacies of clubbing defenceless baby seals, along with two courses on whale harpooning, one on cock fighting, and if I've got time, one on sheep castrating. So be sure to wish me luck on my 90-day orgy of blood!  Jeez, I'd better get going, those Russians are a bitch when it comes to punctuality...